Client: Eydie Faye – Writer, Executive Producer
In a competitive situation, Lion Forge Entertainment has won the rights to Sarah Mlynowski‘s New York Times bestselling tween book series Best Wishes, tapping Eydie Faye (The Slumber Party) to adapt the first installment of the same name for film.
The intention is to build a multi-picture, live-action franchise around the books, with Founder and CEO David Steward II, Stephanie Sperber, President and Chief Creative Officer, and Jennilee Cummings, Senior Vice President, Live Action, to produce for Lion Forge.
Previously, Imagine Kids+Family previously snapped up rights to the books for feature franchise development in 2022, though the option ultimately expired.
The Best Wishes books each focus on a different girl, in a different city, each of whom gets a mysterious package in the mail containing a magical bracelet and instructions on making a wish. Each wish, dealing with a unique coming-of-age challenge, comically escalates until the true lesson is learned and the box magically reappears with a new name and address to send onward, continuing the enchanting journey. Through the bracelet’s power, each girl discovers not merely what she wishes for, but what she truly needs.
The Best Wishes film to be scripted by Faye picks up with Becca Singer, a 13-year-old wishing to be popular, on the eve of her Bat Mitzvah in New York City. As Becca grapples with her overwhelming new popularity and its unforeseen consequences, the story unfolds into a magical tale on navigating family, middle school, and the trials and importance of genuine friendship.
Scholastic Press unveiled the series’ debut title in September 2022, with installments Best Wishes: The Sister Switch and Best Wishes: Time After Time being released the following year. The fourth book, Best Wishes: Like a Boss, co-written by Hena Khan, is slated for publication in November.
The Best Wishes deal continues a hot run for Lion Forge Entertainment that has seen the company close a first-look deal with Nickelodeon Animation, enter into an alliance with Penguin Random House to develop film and TV projects based on Penguin Young Readers’ bestsellers, and set a strategic global content partnership with advertising giant Dentsu.
“We immediately knew we wanted to make these movies because of Sarah’s unique and incredible ability to speak authentically to the tween audience and also because of the diversity of the characters and stories in each book,” Lion Forge execs Steward and Sperber told Deadline. “We love the idea of a series of movies that are aspirational, fun and linked together by a mythology to create a world and a franchise that deal with today’s challenges and themes that are important to families.”
Stated Mlynowski, “I’m thrilled to be working with the creative minds at Lion Forge Entertainment. Eydie Faye’s script perfectly captures the magic of the book series, and I’m beyond excited for the readers of Best Wishes to see these four strong heroines come to life.”
Formerly climbing from staff writer to executive story editor on Netflix’s Fuller House, Faye also wrote and exec produced Paramount+ Original Movie The J Team starring JoJo Siwa. Additionally, she co-wrote and co-produced the family comedy The Slumber Party for Disney.
Mlynowski has authored or co-authored over 50 books for teens, tweens, kids and adults, including the Whatever After series, the Magic in Manhattan series, the Best Wishes series, and the Upside-Down Magic series, which was adapted into a Disney Channel movie.
Lion Forge Entertainment, one of the only Black-owned animation studios of scale in North America, was founded in 2019 by David Steward II as a platform to amplify authentic, diverse voices in the animation and live-action kids & family space. Currently, the company is producing and co-financing the animated series Iyanu, an adaptation of the graphic novels from Roye Okupe, for Cartoon Network and Max.
Other Lion Forge projects include producing the Academy Award-winning animated short Hair Love, the Annie and Image Award-nominated short-form series Rise Up, Sing Out for Disney, Daytime Emmy-winning special The Power of We: A Sesame Street Special, the Children’s & Family Emmy Award-nominated short-form series Rhymes through Times for Nickelodeon; and Emmy-winning short series Drawn In, in partnership with Nine PBS.
Lion Forge Entertainment is represented by Activist Artists Management; Mlynowski by CAA, Laura Dail Literary Agency, and Myman Greenspan; and Faye by Independent Artist Group and Cohen & Gardner.